Hyperspace Log Wipes

Three days later, on Coruscant.
Ashlyn, Daly, Raven and Kayli stood on the landing platform waiting for the arrival of Senator Kallus's escort to arrive. Mia and Stones would be arriving with the escort as the Senate's extra security for the diplomate while Eric was already in the cockpit of the star skiff. Ashlyn's mind wandered back to when she had been talking with her former Master before she left the Temple earlier that morning. The last words he had said echoed in her eyes, "Stay safe, be mindful of your surroundings and may the Force be with you, Tiger."
It was only at that point that Ashlyn began to wonder why Master Skywalker called her that nickname and his answer was and wasn't a surprise to her. He had said that just like Ahsoka was snippy, Ashlyn had always had this fiery and adventurous spark in her that reminded him of a Hrosma Tiger from the planet Baskarn.
"Ash."
The Jedi Knight shook her head as she returned to the present to find Daly giving her a concerned look.
"I'm fine," Ashlyn reassured him as they watched the convoy approach and the four Jedi Knights approached the speeder to greet the Senator.
"Senator Kallus, I am Jedi Knight Ashlyn Dubreas," Ashlyn introduced herself and then proceeded to introduce the others, "We have been assigned by the Jedi Council to escort you safely back to Lothal."
"It is a pleasure to meet you all," the Senator responded, "Shall we go?" she asked.
Ashlyn nodded lightly and stepped aside to allow Senator Kallus to walk ahead of them towards the star skiff. Once they were onboard Raven entered the cockpit to check on Eric and assist with the take-off.
"We are ready when you are Eric," Raven announced.
"Yes well, let's just say that this pilot gear is not very comfortable. Does the Lothal government have something against loose fitted clothing?" Eric asked in annoyance.
"This coming from someone who wears a vest small enough to fit on a child?" Raven asked sarcastically.
"Having fun, are we?" Eric growled.
"Well you are not usually the one to complain about anything except a terrible ship," Raven pointed out.
Eric quirked one eyebrow at the younger man, "Let's just get off this rock," he muttered in frustration. Raven chuckled as he started to help with takeoff and then once they were in hyperspace he left the cockpit.


Two days later, Alazea brought the White Star out of hyperspace and they were contacted within minutes by Lothal space control.
"Please state your security code and your business on Lothal," a voice came through the communicator.
Serin responded, "This is Jedi Knight Serin Starfall requesting a landing on the planet for an excursion with a few Padawans. Sending security code to you now."
"Very good, stand by while we check the security code," the voice responded.
"You should contact Ashlyn to let her know we have arrived," Gav suggested.
"Not until we are at the Jedi Temple," Serin stated.
Then a voice came through the communicator, "You have been cleared to land in your designated area, Welcome to Lothal Master Jedi."
"Okay go ahead Alazea, Jania stay here and guide her the way to the Temple," Serin ordered as he left the cockpit. He wanted to have a conversation with Mayken and his young Padawan about what was expected on this mission. After all, the last thing they needed was the two younger Padawans to go off on an adventure and blow their cover by accident. Serin entered the cargo hold to find Mayken and Obi-Paulo with P7, who was showing them holo recordings of Mayken when she was a toddler. The droid had always been very fond and protective of the daughter of his owner and it had become difficult to separate them from each other when they were on the same planet. Luckily enough, Ahsoka found this amusing and so it never bothered her when P7 would follow the Master and Padawan around the Jedi Temple.
"Padawans," Serin grabbed the attention of Mayken and Obi-Paulo with a serious tone.
"Yes, Master?" Obi-Paulo asked while Mayken just said his name.
"Now while we are on Lothal, I need you both to not wander off on your own. I will be giving you tasks to do so that you don't get bored. However, it is imperative that we do not blow our cover and reveal our true intentions for being on Lothal," Serin explained, "Do I make myself clear?" he asked.
Mayken smiled sweetly, "Crystal."
Obi-Paulo laughed uncontrollably at the joke, but the sound slowly disappeared when he realised how serious his Master was being. The Padawans left the hangar and went to go into the cockpit so that they could see what Lothal looked like.
Serin turned to P7 and stated clearly, "I need you to watch them like a hawk P7."
The astromech beeped in agreement and then rolled out of the cargo hold after the two young teenagers. Serin followed suit after a few seconds of thinking deeply about what they needed to do when they landed. After a few moments, the White Star landed on one giant rock that was on the edge of a lake and the group walked down the ramp.
"So where is the Temple exactly?" Obi-Paulo asked as he looked around and could see no buildings anywhere close by.
"Can you not sense it?" Mayken asked incredulously.
"Sense what? There is nothing here," Obi-Paulo pointed out in confusion.
Mayken grabbed his hand and pulled it out straight in front of him with his palm facing forward, "Reach out with your feelings."
Obi-Paulo expanded his mind out through the Force to try and sense what his friend clearly sensed. He was shocked to find that the Temple was in the ground beneath their feet and under the giant rock directly in front of them was the entrance. Through the small bond he shared with his new Master he could feel him reaching out to the rock through the Force and for some reason, the Padawan felt compelled to follow in Serin's lead.
Focus your mind and pull the rock up. a voice whispered into the teenager's mind and he followed the instructions.
Obi-Paulo felt the rock rise out of the ground and then it stopped, when he opened his eyes he realised that they were standing on a circular metal plate that had the emblem of the Jedi Order engraved on the surface. Then he looked up and saw that the rock had risen to reveal an entrance, the boy turned to look at Mayken in shock.
"Did I just do that?" Obi-Paulo asked.
"Yes Padawan, we just opened the Temple together. This sacred place can only be unlocked by a Master and Padawan which is why it has remained safe over the generations from intruders," Serin explained a small amount of the Temple's history.
Mayken and Obi-Paulo hugged in excitement, then ran towards the Temple to start exploring with P7 following close behind them, screeching for the young girl to stop running. Alazea stood back and watched the sight with a small smile on her face as her thoughts drifted to her daughter's father.
Jania noticed the sudden change in the older woman's emotion, "Are you alright Alazea?" she asked.
"Yes, I was just thinking about how Mayken's life would have turned out much different if her father knew about her existence," Alazea answered as a tear ran down her cheek, "Her father did not like the Jedi Order or the Republic and if he knew about his daughter being trained to be a Jedi he would not be very happy with me."
Jania rubbed the Smuggler's shoulder in soothing circles, "Everything is okay, I doubt he will ever find out," she said in a reassuring tone.
Serin watched the exchange from afar and then turned around to re-enter the ship so as to send word to Ashlyn that they had arrived on Lothal.


They had been in hyperspace for two days and Ashlyn was starting to get nervous they had not received any word from Serin yet.
"Ash, everything will be fine," Daly said in an attempt to reassure her.
"They should have arrived on Lothal by now," Ashlyn pointed out the obvious, "What if this is a trap?" she asked as she started to panic slightly.
Daly grabbed her shoulders gently and forced her to sit down on the bed as he knelt in front of her, then he took hold of her hands and held them firmly in her lap.
"Calm down, Ash," Daly stated calmly as he looked directly into her deep blue eyes, "Everything is going to be fine," he said confidently.
Then he waited for his wife to finish breathing deeply for a few minutes and didn't release her hands until she had fully calmed down. Suddenly as if on the cue, the communicator started to beep and Ashlyn snatched it up off the bed, answering it, "Serin, is that you?"
"Yes Ash, it's me," Serin's voice replied and Ashlyn relaxed for the first time in the past few hours.
"What is your status?"
"We have just landed at the Jedi Temple on Lothal which is now open," Serin answered, "I am about to hand tasks out to the others if you are okay with that," he added.
Ashlyn nodded, "Yes go ahead with the plans I have given you."
"Very good, Starfall out," Serin said and then the call was ended.
Ashlyn looked at Daly who was giving her the 'I told you so' look which resulted in the Jedi Knight receiving a decent slap in the arm from the woman.
Daly laughed heartily at the slap that felt more like a love tap against his bicep, "Maybe you should contact Gilgaro and Inoma to make sure they are on track," he suggested as he rose to his feet and walked out of the room.


Meanwhile, on Corellia, Gilgaro walked away from the warehouse as his communicator started to beep and he answered it swiftly, "Qoatl here."
"Gilgaro, it's Ash. What's your status?" Ashlyn's voice asked through the communicator.
"We are on Corellia at the moment," Gilgaro answered swiftly, "Don't worry, we are right on schedule and are about to get back to the ship to leave soon," he added before she could say anything.
"Very good, don't forget to clear the hyperspace logs for your ship in case someone tried to connect your group to the rest of us," Ashlyn reminded him, "Dubreas out."
"Come on Ancor, the boss wants us to get going," Gilgaro called to his new co-pilot as he continued to rush towards the spaceport. While behind him Ancor was walking alongside the crates which contained the agricultural equipment that they would be selling on Lothal.


Meanwhile, on Manaan, Inoma was standing on a platform in one of the cities that sat on top of the water talking to one of the Selkath Scientists.
"I understand your concerns Elkul. I promise that I will speak to the Jedi Council about this when I return to Coruscant about the issue," Inoma said calmly as her old friend told her about the strange happenings that had been taking place all over the planet over the last few years. Then they reached the storehouse and the duo entered to find several crates stacked inside, they were approached by a watchman.
"What is the crate number for your order Inoma?" Elkul asked.
The Smuggler gave him the number which he passed to the watchman who left momentarily to retrieve the crate. At that moment Inoma's comlink started to beep as she excused herself politely and walked through the door before answering it, "Skylark here."
"Inoma, how are you going with everything?" Ashlyn's voice came through the device.
"Everything is running along smoothly and on time, just collected the cargo from Manaan," Inoma answered, "I will be leaving shortly, how is everything going on your end?" she inquired.
"Everything is okay so far. Serin and the others have landed on Lothal. We will be arriving in a couple of days," Ashlyn said, "Also don't forget to-," she started to remind Inoma when the Smuggler continued for her.
"Wipe the hyperspace logs on the Falcon before I leave Manaan. It's okay Ash, you don't need to remind me," Inoma finished for her, "You might have to remind Gilgaro though," she grumbled as she thought of the idiot momentarily.
"Don't worry, I just talked to him a few minutes ago and I reminded him," Ashlyn chuckled as Inoma's face blushed slightly from embarrassment.
"Sorry Ash, you weren't meant to hear that."
"Don't worry about it," Ashlyn replied, "I better let you get back to it, Dubreas out," Ashlyn farewelled her before the comcall ended.
Then as Inoma was about to re-enter the storehouse Elkul exited with the crate following behind him, "Thank you Elkul," she thanked him gratefully.
"You are welcome Inoma, please do not forget to pass along my message to Master Yoda," Elkul stated in farewell as he walked away.
The Smuggler then proceeded to take the crate to the Millennium Falcon which was sitting on the landing platform not too far away.


A/N: Also just wanted to quickly apologise for the delay in chapter posts. This semester at university has been really challenging and has required more of my attention. I still have at least 2 chapters worth of stuff to write for Book 9, yes I was that far ahead when I started posting the series. Please enjoy and leave a review.

Ashlyn Dubreas.